Summer Tasks, episode one: Adele's Curtains

I've been pretty busy at work during the last few months, but over the summer I only work 10 hours a week instead of 20, and the girls go to daycare for the usual 15 which, in theory, should leave me for some time to do tasks around the house. It's been "summer" for a couple of weeks now, and the only tasks I've accomplished are getting caught up on episodes of Bones so this week I really kicked it into gear and made a LIST. Yep, a list of all the things I'd like to get done over the next few months. Then Ben went and added some killjoy items like blah blah taxes. Whatever. I started with the most fun - curtains!

When Fiona was on the way I planned her room and got window thingies and made it all cute. However, when she was born we found that she would only sleep in near total darkness and for 3 years we've had sheets over her cute window thingies to block out the light.

"Behold... "

With Adele I made significantly less effort (her room still functions as the guest room) but did also include the classy "sheets over the windows" technique. I have been planning for some time to solve these two issues, so I put them both on the list.

A year or so ago I got heavy blue curtains from Ikea. Ikea curtains are good because they are really long and therefore can be hemmed to fit the vast majority of windows. 3 months ago I finally got curtain rods, and this week it all came together in a grand window treatment-stravaganza. Fiona's room is getting blackout roller blinds behind her cute curtains, so all I'm attempting today are the curtains for Adele's room.

First, I made soup. Hopefully you have figured out by now that I have issues with procrastination.

Second, I checked facebook. Nothing was going on that needed to be dealt with imminently.

Third, I looked for the drill. Couldn't find the drill. Called Ben to ask where the drill was. Phone rang twice, then he SENT ME TO VOICEMAIL. Rude.

Fourth, found the drill. Located drill bits. Found screwdriver. Sniggered at screwdriver case...

HA. Nineway. That's an evening to remember.

Tried to read the world's smallest directions. Felt like an old lady for having trouble reading something so tiny.

Fifth, blah blah measured, marked holes, la de da. Tried 5 increasing sizes of drill bit before getting to the one big enough to put a hole in the wall just the right size for the rawlplug (um... translation: that plastic thingy you use to hold the screw in so it stays in the drywall). Pounded those puppies in. Screwed in screws, brackets, etc. PERFECT.

Sixth, had to drill two more holes for second bracket. Yes, we're still on window one of two. In my innocence I assumed the drill bit I finally used for the first two holes would be the right one for the next two holes, given that the hardware was IDENTICAL but I was mistaken, and the next two were somehow way too big. GAAAAAAAAAAH.

Seventh, have a BIG FREAKING DRINK. Yes, it's 11am. I'm tired of this nonsense.

Eighth, admit that what I need are new, smaller holes. Feel ashamed. Ben will not like coming home to find 3 extra holes in the wall (yeah, there's a 3rd one in there. I forget why, but it seemed like it might help at the time).

The second window went much more smoothly, and I even managed to make the curtains the right length. Ikea curtains come with hemming tape because they are so long. In the last 3 months I managed to lose the hemming tape that was included, but luckily, being the rock star seamstress that I am, I had some already!

I got both curtains "hemmed" and up and felt like I could take on the world! Curtains... CHECK! Now to figure out how to patch up the wall... I guess I should add that to the list too.

Sunday Goals

Sunday is work day in our house. I usually make a list of things that need to be done on Saturday, and then we get maybe one thing done because, you know, we have all weekend, and then spend Sunday working like crazy to get everything done. And it's not extra, optional stuff either, it's stuff that I've been putting off all week because it's a pain to do with Fiona or because I'll get to it at the weekend... like going grocery shopping, or washing socks...

So today I'm making my Sunday goals public in the hope that it will motivate me to actually get all this stuff done today... I'm not sure if it's achievable, but we'll see...

Goal 1. Grocery shopping. We have almost no food in the house. We did have butter, but then Brodie ate that. Seriously. He knocked it off the counter and ate half a tub of butter. SO GROSS. I can't buy anything frozen though because our freezer is almost completely full of breastmilk... this poses kind of a challenge, because pre-made frozen food and bowls of cereal is the only kind of cooking I do...

Goal 2. Laundry. I had to wear Ben's socks for the last few days because it has been so long since I did laundry. My goal is to do all the laundry in the laundry room. Note: not all the laundry that needs to be done, but is in other locations, because that's impossible. I'll get to that next weekend ;-)

(this is not all of it, I couldn't fit it all in the picture...)

Goal 3. Take down Christmas stuff. I know leaving your Christmas stuff up past 12th Night is bad luck, so luckily I am just within the cutoff for that. December 25th to January 10th is 12 days exactly...

Goal 4. Make any kind of start on turning our extra bedroom into Adele's room. I mentioned to the nurse at the hospital that they kind of overestimated Adele's possible coming home date (Friday 8th) and she said that they do that to make sure the parents are prepared for when the baby actually comes home. Aside from the fact that I think this is kind of an awful thing to do to stressed out, emotional parents, it made me realise that we have nothing ready for Adele coming home. I have most of the things we need (clothes, a bed, diapers) but nothing is organised or washed, and her bed is full of laundry (see goal 1). So anything would be an improvement at this point, and that is my goal.

I'll check in this evening and let you know how much I accomplished. And for those of you who might wonder why I am spending time writing about this and not just doing it, I also have to pump every 3 hours (for a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes of the day) so I am totally multitasking here :-) No photo illustrating that goal? You're welcome :-)